1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of electronic communications including telephony, data network telephony (DNT) and Internet protocol network telephony (IPNT) and pertains particularly to a system for routing interactions using bio-performance attributes of agents as dynamic input.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the field of telephony communications, state-of-art contact centers are available to help customers of companies buy products and services, gain technical assistance, answer questions, and so on. Modern contact centers, also termed call centers or communications centers, are typically computer telephony integrated (CTI) and employ agents and/or knowledge workers to help customers. Automated systems have interactive voice response systems and automated mailing systems are available for treating customers whose goal does not include talking with a live agent.
The contact center has agent stations including personal computers (PCs) connected to local area network (LAN) and agent telephones connected also to the LAN or to a central telephone switch located within the center or leased from a service provider. The center may also be accessed through electronic messaging like email, instant messaging and chat interaction. Incoming calls and other communications are handled by automated systems such as by an interactive voice response (IVR) system or automated messaging reply system unless live assistance is suggested or required to handle a call.
Routing logic within a call center is typically implemented in a router or routing server and relies on static, and in some cases dynamically changing data to determine the best fit destination for routing an interaction. In most cases the data relied upon for routing is relative to such conditions in the center as agent availability, agent skill type, time of day, call load, and other criteria. Static elements may also be involved in event routing like switches, queues, IVR ports, and so on.
In some contact center applications, voice recognition technology is used to not only communicate with a customer, but also to attempt to gauge the current mood of the customer relative to doing business. For example, if the customer is determined to be angry or upset, by virtue of using mood detection technology at the IVR, then some other customer treatment may be ordered by the system than the treatment first contemplated by the system. In a typical case it is a redirect from self-help to live assistance so an agent may alleviate the frustration of the customer and perhaps elicit a sale from the customer.
Agents in a contact center are trained and are often rated in skill level and other performance factors, such as typing speed and efficiency in handling a call, which is often measured in time from agent pickup to a successful conclusion. It has occurred to the inventors that agent performance levels within the call center will waver somewhat according to how the agent feels, call and message load on the agent, time the agent has worked on a particular campaign, and other somewhat personal factors, such as temperament of the agent, agent alertness, and agent attentiveness. Moreover, general performance output of an agent may cycle from minimum too maximum and back to minimum output according to some biorhythmic cycle. Therefore it is important to attend to the desires and needs, and to some extent comfort level of an agent to ensure the agent has all of the required tools, training, and support for performing at a top level within the contact center at a maximum level of consistency. However, there may always be periods of less-than-maximum output for a contact center agent, perhaps even including performance below acceptable levels.
Current contact center routing based on mood or temperament levels focuses only on the customer with the goal of making the customer feel important to the process. What is clearly needed is a system for considering the bio-performance characteristics of agents working within the system when making routing decisions based on current levels of agent performance as an additional consideration in normal routing to further optimize contact center efficiency.